Tourists held by Peruvian indigenous group protesting oil spill are freed, says official In pictures: Peru’s oil crisis A man takes a picture of the oil spill in La Paz where an indigenous group has blocked access to the site AFP Photo/Mauricio Lima
An indignant, almost breathless, local official says the protesters who’ve been held by the group for more than a month now are “free” thanks to international human rights organizations. In a statement, the indigenous group, called La Lucha Continente, said it was a matter of “moral certainty” that the protesters were free. “We are now in a situation of full sovereignty,” said the group’s secretary-general, Jorge Chacón. “The Peruvian military is a key element in the release of all the people that were held here in La Paz,” Chacón said. “The whole world is watching the developments.” Local media reports said the military freed the activists when it came on the scene shortly before dawn on Monday. “We received information that the indigenous groups were holding the camp and we were there to defend our people and the freedom of movement of our people. There are thousands of people there and they were attacked,” said army commander Enrique Gómez.
Peru has been wracked by protests over the spill for a month now and a state of emergency has been declared. The US, Britain and other Western governments and human rights groups have criticized the military response, saying that it was heavy-handed and failed to hold those responsible. Police said they had confiscated weapons from those detained. The protesters, who say they are fighting for their human rights, were detained on the US$500 (1,876) a month rent of their homes, when the military said they were occupying the community and blocking roads. The indigenous group has said the protesters are just exercising their rights to protest, but are demanding justice and that they be able to work to build a community. “We are not criminals, the land was not stolen. This is our home and we fought for it, and we want to work this land to make it our home and for generations to come,” said Chacón.
The community of La Paz, a town of more than 10,000, was devastated by the magnitude 6.8-magnitude quake on September 3. In its first days